An Act Annexing the Province of Masbate to the Province of Sorsogon, and Amending Act Numbered Seventy-Four, as Amended, by Making the Provinces of Albay and Sorsogon Separate School Divisions, and for Other Purposes

November 23, 1905

ACT NO. 1413

AN ACT ANNEXING THE PROVINCE OF MASBATE TO THE PROVINCE OF SORSOGON, AND AMENDING ACT NUMBERED SEVENTY-FOUR, AS AMENDED, BY MAKING THE PROVINCES OF ALBAY AND SORSOGON SEPARATE SCHOOL DIVISIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. The territory heretofore comprised in the Province of Masbate as organized under Act Numbered One hundred and five is hereby annexed to and included in the Province of Sorsogon, and shall be governed in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-four, entitled "An Act extending the provisions of the Provincial Government Act to the Province of Sorsogon."

SECTION 2. All property and assets of the Province of Masbate, including uncollected taxes, except as hereinafter provided, and all proper contracts and obligations, except such as are hereinafter specifically referred to as cancelled are hereby transferred to the Province of Sorsogon.

SECTION 3. All provincial funds in the treasury of Masbate, of whatever nature, on the date of the passage of this Act, and any other provincial funds which may be paid into the treasury of the province prior to the date this Act takes effect, shall be expended in the liquidation of the outstanding indebtedness of the Province of Masbate and in the payment of the general running expenses of the provincial government up to January first, nineteen hundred and six. The balance, if any, remaining in the provincial treasury on January first, nineteen hundred and six, after all outstanding indebtedness has been paid, shall remain in the sub-treasury of Masbate for the sole use and benefit of the inhabitants of the subprovince of Masbate.

SECTION 4. The loan of two thousand five hundred dollars, United States currency, made by the Insular Government to the Province of Masbate under the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-four, the date of payment of which was postponed by Act Numbered Five hundred and ninety-four, and which has never been paid, is hereby declared cancelled.

SECTION 5. The territory hereby annexed to the Province of Sorsogon hereafter shall be known as the subprovince of Masbate. There shall be a lieutenant-governor for the said subprovince of Masbate, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, by and with the consent of the Philippine Commission. He shall have his office in the municipality of Masbate, and shall receive an annual salary not to exceed one thousand four hundred and forty pesos, payable monthly from funds of the subprovince hereinafter provided for; he shall represent the provincial governor in the subprovince and shall carry out the lawful directions of that official as transmitted to him from time to time; he shall inspect the municipalities in the subprovince at least once every six months and shall make report to the provincial board, through the provincial governor; he shall from time to time make such recommendations to the provincial board, through the provincial governor, as he shall deem necessary for the best interests of the subprovince; he shall employ and discharge, with the approval of the provincial board, all subordinate employees of the subprovince that may be authorized by the board; he shall be the custodian of the public records and documents of the subprovince; and, in general, he shall exercise, subject to the supervision of the provincial governor, the powers and duties conferred upon a provincial governor by the Provincial Government Act. ATICcS

SECTION 6. The provincial government of Sorsogon is hereby authorized to establish permanently a sub-office of the provincial treasury of Sorsogon at Masbate, in the subprovince of Masbate, and to provide suitable quarters for such sub-office.

SECTION 7. Except as provided in section three of this Act, seventy per centum of all taxes, imposts, or fines collected in behalf of the Province of Sorsogon in the subprovince of Masbate under the provisions of existing law, or of laws which may hereafter be enacted, shall remain in the provincial subtreasury at Masbate for the sole use and benefit of the inhabitants of said subprovince; and the remaining thirty per centum of such collections shall be transmitted to the provincial treasury of Sorsogon and shall inure to the general funds of the province. The funds provided for the subprovince of Masbate shall be expended by resolution of the provincial board of Sorsogon, and the deputy of the provincial treasurer in charge of the subtreasury at Masbate shall make payments from funds of the subprovince only by direction of the lieutenant-governor of the subprovince, accompanied by a certified copy of the resolution of the provincial board authorizing the expenditure. The salary of the deputy of the provincial treasurer in charge of the provincial subtreasury at Masbate and the deputies of the provincial treasurer in the municipalities of the subprovince shall be paid from the funds of the subprovince of Masbate.

SECTION 8. The judge of the Court of First Instance for the Fifteenth Judicial District shall continue to hold court at Masbate, in and for the subprovince of Masbate, commencing on the first Tuesdays of March and September of each year; and the clerk of the court for the Province of Masbate shall be continued as clerk of the court for the subprovince of Masbate at the same compensation as is now authorized by law.

SECTION 9. The fiscal for that portion of the Fifteenth Judicial District comprising the Provinces of Romblon, Masbate, and Palawan shall no longer exercise the functions of his office in the subprovince of Masbate, and the compensation received by the said fiscal shall be reduced to two thousand pesos per annum upon the taking effect of this Act. The functions of fiscal for the subprovince of Masbate shall be hereafter performed by the fiscal for the Province of Sorsogon.

SECTION 10. From and after the taking effect of this Act the compensation to be paid provincial officers of the Province of Sorsogon shall be at the following rate per annum:

For the provincial governor, four thousand six hundred pesos.

For the provincial secretary, two thousand four hundred pesos.

For the provincial treasurer, four thousand five hundred pesos.

For the provincial fiscal, three thousand pesos.

SECTION 11. Section five of Act Numbered Seventy-four, as amended, is hereby further amended by striking out the words "Second Division, the Provinces of Albay and Sorsogon," and inserting in lieu thereof the words "Second Division, the Province of Albay," and by striking out the words "Seventeenth Division, the Province of Masbate," and inserting in lieu thereof the words "Seventeenth Division, the Province of Sorsogon."

SECTION 12. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 13. This Act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and six, except section three hereof, which shall take effect immediately.

ENACTED, November 23, 1905.